As well known to those skilled in the art, a skydiving simulator allows skydivers to train for skydiving in a simulator, which is installed on a support surface on the ground and simulates the environment and other conditions for purposes of skydiving training as if the skydiver performs a real skydiving process from the first step of riding in an airplane to the last step of landing on the ground, thus allowing the skydivers to train for skydiving in a highly active and realistic fashion without requiring a real flight in an airplane. The skydiving simulator thus allows the skydivers to train for skydiving in spite of bad weather and protects unskilled skydivers from safety hazards unexpectedly occurring in the process of real skydivings, thus preventing such unskilled skydivers from being seriously injured by or suffering death from such safety hazards occurring in real skydiving. Another advantage of the skydiving simulators resides in that the simulators allow skydivers to train for skydiving without a real flight of airplanes, and so the fuel of the airplanes is not used. The skydiving simulators thus save fuel of airplanes, and reduce the skydiving training cost.
An example of such skydiving simulators is referred to Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Heisei 8-173583. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B of the accompanying drawings, the Japanese skydiving simulator comprises a skydiver support unit for supporting a skydiver, an actuating unit provided at the support unit for moving the skydiver, a limb movement sensor installed at the support unit for sensing movements of the limbs of the skydiver, a parachute sensor installed at the support unit for detecting, whether the skydiver manipulates a parachute control line to open his/her virtual parachute, and a control sensor installed at the support unit for detecting a displacement of the parachute control line manipulated by the skydiver. The simulator also includes a control unit, which receives signals outputted from the sensors, and operates the actuating unit in response to a signal from the limb sensor when the skydiver is in a horizontal position, thus changing the position of the support unit from a horizontal position to a vertical position in response to a signal from the parachute sensor, and thereby changing the horizontal position of the skydiver to a vertical position. That is, in response to a signal from the parachute sensor, the control unit operates the actuating unit to change the position of the skydiver from a free-falling mode position (horizontal position) to a parachuting mode position (vertical position). The control unit also operates the actuating unit in response to a signal from the control sensor when the skydiver is in the vertical position.
In a detailed description, the Japanese skydiving simulator comprises a tower platform 1 which is fixedly installed on a support surface on the ground, a skydiver support unit 5 which is provided at the platform 1 and supports a skydiver “P” at the platform 1, an upward fan unit 2 installed at the lower portion of an open simulation space and functioning to force air upward in the open simulation space to support the skydiver “P” in a weightless state by the air. A plurality of horizontal fall units 3 are regularly installed on the support surface to surround the open simulation space and functioning to force air horizontally into the simulation space. A control unit 4 is installed at the framework of the platform 1, and controllably operates the fan units 2 and 3 to force air upwardly and horizontally into the open simulation space, thus supporting the skydiver “P”, who is suspended in the simulation space by the support unit 5, in a weightless state while repeatedly changing the horizontal and vertical positions of the skydiver “P” and allowing the skydiver “P” to train for skydiving in the simulator.
In the above simulator, a plurality of sensors and signal transmitting wires are attached to the body and limbs of a skydiver for monitoring the position and posture of the skydiver floating in a weightless state by the air in the simulation space, and simulating the environment and other conditions agreeing with the position, posture and intention of the skydiver. However, the sensors and signal transmitting wires do not allow the skydiver to train for skydiving in the simulator in a highly active and realistic fashion, and force the skydiver to excessively waste labor and time while preparing for the skydiving training.
The Japanese skydiving simulator does not have any means for analyzing the position, posture and intention of a skydiver in real time using input signals or means for allowing a trainer to control and communicate with the skydiver in real time. Therefore, during a skydiving training process using the simulator, the trainer must use a megaphone to give instructions to the skydiver floating in the simulation space, and this reduces the activity and realism of the skydiving training using the simulator.
In addition, the tower platform of the above simulator is not movable, but is fixed on a support surface, and so the simulator does not simulate a horizontal flight of an airplane. Therefore, the simulator does not allow a skydiver to train for free-falling using his/her body to control direction and movements just after jumping from a real airplane in horizontal flight. Another disadvantage of the above simulator resides in that it cannot simulate the environment or other conditions for purposes of training for jumping from an airplane, even though the training for jumping is one of the very important steps of the skydiving training process. Particularly, the jumping from a real airplane at a high altitude while skydiving is the step which typically strikes a beginner or an unskilled skydiver with fear and sometimes causes safety hazards, and so it is necessary for such beginners or unskilled skydivers to repeatedly train for the jumping on the ground until they are quite experienced in the jumping. Thus the Japanese skydiving simulator has a fatal defect in that it does not simulate the environment or other conditions for purposes of training for such jumping.
While carrying out a skydiving training process using a real airplane, some beginners refuse to jump from a flying airplane at a high altitude since they are struck with fear. In addition, a skydiver may unfortunately strike his/her head against the fuselage of the flying airplane and lose his/her senses while free-falling when the skydiver fails to successfully jump from the airplane by a sufficient distance in the case of jumping from the airplane. Furthermore, some skydivers jumping from a flying airplane may feel that their helmets and parachute backpacks are removed from them in strong wind currents, and are thrown into confusion since they jump from the airplane as if they were abruptly thrown from the interior of the fuselage into strong wind currents. In such a case, the skydivers while free-falling may fail to attain agreeable positions or postures, which have been experienced through repeated skydiving training processes.
It is thus apparent that skydiving simulators must allow skydivers to train for jumping. However, the above-mentioned Japanese skydiving simulator does not provide any realism or simulate the environment or other conditions for purposes of training for the jumping from an airplane flying at a high altitude. In addition, the simulator does not allow a skydiver to perform a skydiving training process while alone.
In the above Japanese skydiving simulator, it is necessary to force air into the simulation space in all directions using the fixed fan units, and so an excessive number of large-scaled fan units must be used. This increases the installation and maintenance cost of the skydiving simulators. In addition, the air from the fan units of the above simulator is forced into the simulation space without being guided by any guiding means, and so the simulator results in excessive energy loss and is low in its economic efficiency.
When it is required to increase the altitude for free-falling in an effort to allow the skydivers to train for skydiving in a highly active and realistic fashion using the simulator, the simulator including the tower platform and fan units must be increased in its scale, and forces the owner of the simulator to pay excessive money for installation and maintenance of the simulator. This results in a further reduction in the economic efficiency of the simulator.
Another example of conventional skydiving simulators is referred to Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Heisei. 8-182787, disclosing a simulator for skydiving and parachuting training. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B of the accompanying drawings, the above simulator comprises a simulation chamber, a skydiver suspending unit, an upward fan unit for functioning to force air upward in the simulation chamber to support a skydiver in a weightless state, a parachute sensor for detecting whether the skydiver manipulates a parachute control line to open his/her virtual parachute or not, a control sensor for detecting a skydiver's manipulation of the control line after the skydiver manipulates the control line, and a plurality of horizontal fan units for functioning to force air horizontally into the simulation chamber after the control line is manipulated. The simulator also includes a control unit, which receives signals from the sensors, and controls the upward fan unit so as to make the upward fan unit force air into the simulation chamber such that the skydiver, supported in a weightless state by the air, floats down slowly in the simulation chamber when the skydiver manipulates the parachute control line to open the virtual parachute. The control unit also controls the horizontal fan units in response to the input signals from the sensors. The simulator further includes an image projecting unit for projecting a moving image, which allows the skydiver to feel the sensation of falling in the air, in response to a control signal outputted from the control unit, and an image display unit for displaying the moving image projected from the image projecting unit.
In other words, this Japanese simulator has the closed simulation chamber “R” which is formed in a fixed facility “S”, and the upward fan unit 7 upwardly forcing air into the chamber “R” through an air guide tunnel 6 to support the skydiver “P” in a weightless state by the air, and the horizontal fan units 9 horizontally forcing air into the chamber “R” to adjust the position of the skydiver “P” in the chamber “R”. That is, this simulator allows a skydiver to train for skydiving and parachuting in a closed simulation chamber
The above skydiving and parachuting simulator is advantageous in that it prevents leakage of wind currents from the simulation chamber, thus reducing energy loss. However, this simulator is problematic in that it is too low in its economic efficiency since the scale of the facility “S” must be excessively enlarged when it is desired to provide a skydiver with a sufficient space capable of allowing the skydiver to freely move and take desired positions and postures in the simulation chamber. When a skydiver fails to have a good position or a good posture while floating in the chamber “R”, the skydiver may crash into the sidewall of the chamber “R” to be injured. Another disadvantage of this simulator resides in that the skydiving and parachuting process using the simulator is poor in its realism and activity.
As apparent from the above description, the skydiving and parachuting simulator of Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Heisei. 8-182787 has the construction similar to that of the simulator disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Heisei. 8-173583, and so the skydiving and parachuting simulator cannot overcome the above-mentioned problems.
In an effort to overcome such problems experienced in the conventional skydiving simulators, the inventor of this invention has actively developed a skydiving simulator, which simulates the environment and other conditions for the purposes of skydiving training as if skydivers jumped from a real airplane flying in the sky, different from the conventional skydiving simulators designed to only allow skydivers to train for skydiving in fixed systems. This inventor also has developed a skydiving training process using the simulator, which comprises the first step of riding in a model fuselage, a second step of jumping from the model fuselage simulating the environment and other conditions of a real flight, and free-falling in the air using the body of a skydiver to control direction and movements, the third step of opening a parachute and floating down in the air, and the last step of landing on the ground, and which thus allows skydivers to train for skydiving in a highly active and realistic fashion using the simulator.
This inventor also has studied a skydiving simulator and a skydiving training process using the simulator, which allows a skydiver to participate in the skydiving training process while wearing only a harness and an HMD (head-mounted display) so as to allow the skydiver to feel realism as if he/she performed real skydiving from a real airplane flying in the sky. The skydiving simulator and skydiving training process proposed by this inventor thus allows skydivers to freely move and have desired positions and postures while training in the simulator and prevents a leakage of wind currents, generated from a fan unit, from the simulator, thus accomplishing desired economic efficiency of skydiving simulators.
The simulator of this invention has a plurality of vertical and horizontal CCD-cameras (charge coupled device camera), and records a variation in the position and posture of a skydiver during a skydiving training process on a video recording medium by a video recorder, and controls the position, posture and movements of the skydiver in real time, and reproduces the recorded data to analyze the skydiver's position and posture after finishing the skydiving training process, thus improving the training effect.
The inventor of this invention has endeavored to reduce the installation and maintenance cost of skydiving simulators in an effort to improve economic efficiency of such simulators, even though the simulators simulate the desired environment and other conditions for the purposes of skydiving training in a highly active and realistic fashion.